Yeovil Town suffered a frustrating 1-2 home defeat at the hands of Hartlepool United this afternoon, after a late Brad Walker goal sealed their fate. The Glovers played their part for all bar the final fifteen minutes - Scott Fenwick was credited with a touch on a Jake Carroll free kick that seemed to deceive Artur Krysiak, but five minutes later the home side were level thanks to Ryan Bird's fourth goal of the season as he converted a Jake Howells cross. Both sides had opportunities to win the match, but as the second half closed, the Glovers seemed to tire and go into their shells, and substitute Walker was able to get a close range goal to ensure Hartlepool's long journey back to the north-east was a profitable one, whilst the Glovers slip to 21st place in the League Two table.

The Glovers went into the match making just one change to their side. The departure of one loanee - AFC Bournemouth midfielder Josh Wakefield returned to his club during the week - was matched by the arrival of another with Josh Sheehan who came in for his second loan spell for the club from Swansea City. Ollie Bassett kept his place in the side, to enable his home debut, and the only other change to the squad was the addition of Wes Fogden following his recovery from a broken hand - even so he was strapped with bandages to protect it, in case he needed to be used.

The game itself was one of few chances throughout, with the game taking a long time to get going - Hartlepool defenders blocked balls from Nathan Smith and Harry Cornick into the box before they could reach the danger zone. Then Josh Sheehan actually got a proper shot in, as Connor Roberts set him up via a right flank run. It took half an hour before Hartlepool had a shot of note, and it landed into the back of the net. A Jake Carroll free kick into the box saw Scott Fenwick credited with a faint touch as it landed in the back of the net, with Artur Krysiak having had to only deal with collections up until that moment.

The Glovers did well to hit back within five minutes. Good build-up down the left from Nathan Smith and Jake Howells saw the ball put into the box, and there was Ryan Bird in the right place at the right time once again, to score his fourth goal of the season and to quickly level the scores. Josh Sheehan put the ball over the bar just after that equaliser and certainly at that point in the game, the Glovers could go in at the break feeling fairly positive about their situation.

The second period didn't really spark for either side, with former Glover Michael Woods having a shot for one of the few notable attempts. The biggest talking point was referee Fred Graham's decision to force Jakub Sokolik to stay off the field of play whilst he had a head injury attended to - even after the centre-back had been cleaned up, the Essex official frustrated the home crowd by insisting on a break in play before he would let Yeovil get eleven men back on the pitch. Thankfully the only damage was to Sokolik's nose.

Chances remained few and far between, with a Matt Dolan free kick parried by Hartlepool keeper Adam Bartlett, into the path of Jakub Sokolik, but his header went wide on the rebound. Then Jake Howells fired into the side netting as one half of the ground incorrectly assumed it had hit the inside of the net. But as the game closed out, chances began to fizzle out, and Yeovil began to tire, dropping into their shells, despite Iffy Allen being introduced to liven up the attacking part of Yeovil's team.

But then came the sucker punch, and in fairness during the preceding five minutes it had been looming. The fact that it came from two Hartlepool substitutes may give a clue as to why the game turned, with Kudus Oyenuga providing the ball - with a mis-hit shot that turned into a cross that Brad Walker was able to turn in from close range, just three minutes after his introduction, for a bit of a scruffy winning goal. Yeovil faded out of the game and with few alternative options on the substitutes bench, and only a matter of minutes remaining, they weren't able to scare Hartlepool during the minutes that followed, leaving them slipping into a disappointing 21st place position by the time the final whistle blew.